Tri-media personality Bobby Nalzaro dies

Pablito "Bobby" Nalzaro
Pablito "Bobby" Nalzaro

(UPDATED) CEBU tri-media personality Pablito Galeza Nalzaro, more popularly known as Bobby Nalzaro, died on Thursday afternoon, March 17, 2022 at the age of 58.

His cause of death was multiple organ failure, according to Nalzaro's longtime friend and fellow Superbalita Cebu columnist Eddie Barrita.

“GMA Network deeply mourns the passing of our beloved Kapuso, Pablito ‘Super Bob’ G. Nalzaro,” GMA Network said in a statement Thursday.

“Nalzaro, 58, was one of the anchors of GMA Regional TV’s Balitang Bisdak. He also served as Radio GMA Cebu’s station manager and hosted a daily commentary program at Super Radyo dySS-AM. A loyal Kapuso, his dedication to the industry will serve as an inspiration to all. We pray for his eternal repose,” the network said.

Nalzaro was first admitted to hospital on Dec. 24, 2021 after he suffered a mild stroke, said a radio dySS reporter who requested anonymity.

Nalzaro was discharged a few days later last December but he was admitted again in January due to hypertension and complications in the kidneys. Since then, the hard-hitting commentator had been staying in the hospital. During his stay, he contracted Covid-19 but eventually recovered from it.

On Monday, March 14, Nalzaro was rushed to the intensive care unit after he caught pneumonia.

In a media career that spanned over four decades, Nalzaro was also a longtime columnist of SunStar Cebu and Superbalita Cebu. He served the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP) as local chapter chairman and regional chairman.

Nalzaro's last two columns for SunStar Cebu saw print on Monday Jan. 17, 2022 ("Health is wealth") and on Monday, Jan. 24 ("Media bias").

Superbalita Cebu editor-in-chief Roger Vallena said Nalzaro texted him last Feb. 1 informing him that he could not yet resume writing his column for the paper.

Commentaries

Nalzaro made enemies left and right with his stinging commentaries as he amassed a large following that liked his broadcasting style and the causes he took up.

On Nov. 19, 1990, Nalzaro was boxed and held hostage in Mandaue City.

Then a commentator for radio dyMF, he was mauled for a report on the alleged excessive fare in barges plying the Mactan-Mandaue route, in an attempt to suppress legitimate news coverage. He was boxed in the head by a bodyguard of a barge operator, who held him by the collar and whose family also detained him even after Nalzaro promised to air their side on the overcharging issue.

In 1999, Regional Trial Court Judge Martin Ocampo fined Nalzaro P2,000, and then editor-in-chief Pachico A. Seares P3,000 for indirect contempt.

This was over Nalzaro's March 9, 1999 Superbalita column mentioning reports that Ocampo might acquit Francisco Juan “Paco” Larrañaga, who was facing double kidnapping and serious illegal detention cases with six other men for the abduction and rape of Marijoy and Jacqueline Chiong on July 16, 1997.

The appellate court cleared them of the charge in 2010.

In 2005, interviewed by SunStar Cebu about his then 25 years of being a media practitioner, he called death threats, physical violence and legal harassment “professional hazards.”

Nalzaro said he wielded his power as a media personality “by providing the public with accurate information for seeking the truth; for giving justice to the oppressed and victims of abuses; for helping the needy and exposing graft and corruption, illegal activities and anomalies in government and the private sector.”

These did not sit well with the targets of his commentaries, and in 2019, Nalzaro said a 30th libel case had been filed against him.

Press council

"Cebu lost an unforgettable media icon," the Cebu Citizens-Press Council (CCPC) said in a statement Thursday.

"Bobby achieved the kind of success that eludes most others: he earned the trust of a vast and loyal audience," CCPC executive director Pachico Seares said in the statement.

"As a colleague in CCPC, Bobby helped us set up CJJ (Cebu Journalism and Journalists) Media Gallery at Museo Sugbo, persuaded mayors to support the council’s street-naming project to memorialize departed journalists, and was a big cheerleader of Cebu Media Legal Aid," the CCPC added.

“Bobby thrived in controversy and verbal fights but, as he told his colleagues more than once, ‘sometimes we need to get wet and dirty, even mugged and bruised so we can shout the truth from the rooftop,’” the CCPC said.

“The industry lost a dear friend: He knew everyone, from publisher or editor to rookie reporter or camera handler. His family lost a beloved spouse, father, brother, uncle,” the council said.

Awards

Nalzaro was born in Dipolog City and held a degree in mass communications from the Ateneo de Zamboanga.

His numerous awards included the KBP national award for Best Public Affairs Program Host for Radio, won in 2004 over Manila-based radio-TV personality Korina Sanchez.

He was among the first batch of Garbo Sa Sugbo Awardees honored by the Cebu Provincial Government. He was also a recipient of the Achiever’s Award in Mass Media, given by the Zamboanga del Norte Provincial Government, his home province.

In 2005, SunStar Cebu named him among “23 of Cebu’s Most Influential People.”

LTO 7 chief

Land Transportation Office 7 Director Victor Caindec, who was subjected to Nalzaro's commentaries, offered his condolences Thursday.

In January 2020, Nalzaro had asked the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas to conduct a lifestyle check on Caindec and challenged the latter to "show his Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN) from the time he assumed office to date if he has nothing to hide, but he refused,” the broadcast journalist said in his letter of request.

Nalzaro had accused Caindec of misdeeds.

"I would be a hypocrite to say that his acts, for whatever motivated him to do such, did not create deep wounds within, not just for myself but more to my loved ones who were unfairly dragged without remorse," Caindec said in a statement.

"Alas, while this may be the case, the man did bring me to my own place of prominence, or infamy, however you may prefer it to be. In the end, I have become a stronger and better person for having faced a more than worthy adversary," he added.

"To the bereaved family and loved ones of Bobby Nalzaro, my family and I offer our deepest condolences and prayers, not only for the eternal repose of his soul but for peace, serenity and healing,” Caindec said.

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